San Francisco Opera invites you and your family to attend FREE screenings of our Opera-in-an-Hour Movies presented throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn about where you can catch a screening of our family friendly operas, click here.

How would you feel if someone asked you to make a generous annual donation to the Opera, and in addition, they asked you to volunteer to serve coffee and snacks to artists and stagehands in the canteen on performance nights? Or what about if you were asked to open up a spare room or two in your home as lodging for a young artist or two? Or six? Or seven?

And what if one of these young artists was suffering from the flu, and you were asked to serve her chicken soup and Gatorade until she was recovered enough to sing on the opera house main stage – let’s say something simple, like Lìu in Turandot? And let’s say you did all these things, and on top of it, you provided sponsorship support every year for an Adler Fellow; you remembered the Opera in your estate plans by establishing a charitable remainder trust; you encouraged everyone you met to support the Opera in any way they could; and you did all of these things in loving memory and in the name of your cherished late wife?

Tomorrow evening our phenomenally talented Adler Fellows will perform in their annual The Future is Now: Adler Gala Concert. Founded in 1977 as the San Francisco Affiliate Artists-Opera Program, Adler Fellowships are performance-oriented residencies for the most advanced young singers and coach/accompanists. Under the guidance of San Francisco Opera General Director David Gockley and Opera Center Director Sheri Greenawald, the Adler Fellowship Program offers intensive individual training and roles of increasing importance in San Francisco Opera's main-stage season.

As the year draws to a close for our Adlers, we want to take a moment to highlight some of their key roles in 2013. The Adler Fellows truly are the rising stars of opera, and you can say “You saw them here first!”

One of the most riveting scenes of Mark Adamo's opera The Gospel of Mary Magdalene occurs when Peter is overcome with grief for having denied Jesus three times before his crucifixion.

As the stage is bathed in blood red light, Peter falls to his knees, wailing, "How many times will I remember this? Seven times seven?" This moment of anguish has inspired other composers to some of their most dramatic and poignant music as well.

Last Sunday San Francisco Opera invited a small group to attend and live tweet the final dress rehearsal of The Gospel of Mary Magdalene. The opera by Mark Adamo has its world premiere on Wednesday, June 19, so this was truly a first glimpse for the public.

The wise, knowing half smile on the enigmatic woman's face and the silvery sheen of her cloak have made many viewers assume that this is the work of a very modern painter. Surprise! This image of Mary Magdalene ̶ one which embodies such an air of mystery ̶ was painted in the year 1540 by Giovanni Solvoldo.

Introduction

Backstage at San Francisco Opera is a fascinating, fast-moving, mysterious and sacred space for the Company’s singers, musicians, dancers, technicians and production crews. Musical and staging rehearsals are on-going, scenery is loaded in and taken out, lighting cues are set, costumes and wigs are moved around and everything is made ready to receive the audience. From the principal singers, chorus and orchestra musicians to the creative teams for each opera, in addition to the many talented folks who don’t take a bow on stage, this blog offers unique insight, both thought-provoking and light-hearted, into the life backstage at San Francisco Opera.